Prometheus Mapping System
ISEA NASA |designer = Sky Josephson James Marlow |type = Navigation System |function = Interplanetary Navigation |affiliation = |universe = Solar Era}}With the onset of space travel and colony construction in S.E. 0 mankind needed a system by which to navigate, while navigation beacons and line of sight proved useful early on for short range trips a more powerful system was required for interplanetary travel. Description & Characteristics The solar system contains a single object which remains stationary in relation to the rest of the system, the Sun, thus it is useless as a point of reference in 3-dimensional travel. The Prometheus Project brought together over 300 years of stellar cartography and mathematics to create an estimated mathematical model of the solar system's movement in relation to the rest of the galaxy. This data was combined with a mathematical model of planetary rotation in the Earth System producing the Prometheus Mapping System, a program capable of working out a position in space based on position of the sun, centre of the galaxy and planets, as a secondary confirmation the Prometheus System will then analyse the position of visible stars and compare the data with a loaded stellar cartography database. The basic mechanics of the program uses the ecliptic planes of the of planet in the system to create the x,y plane, any movement throughout this plane is solely across two dimensions with a height (z) of 0. Orientation of the x and y axis are determined by the line derived from the Earth system's Sun to the mathematical centre of the galaxy, following the plane formed from the x and z axes one would cut straight through the centre of the Milky Way.Due to the fact that what is perceived to be the centre has actually moved because of the time taken by light to reach Earth the visual centre of the galaxy is used instead. While this means that the system is technically not pointing to the centre of the galaxy in real time from the user's point of view it is accurate enough for navigation within the known solar system. The star map is also programmed to use "visual" coordinates rather than real time for this system, allowing for ease of use when performing rough navigation by hand. With the x and y axis established the z axis is typically formed by bisecting the x,y plane at 90 degrees at the point 0,0,0. With the origin point established (the centre of the sun, 0,0,0) a Cartesian grid is then established, forming a coordinate system 1 x 10^9 km per unit. Using these distances is not hugely useful for rough navigation, for simplification a scale is used, reducing the grid to 400,000 sections, each 10,000 km in length. With a primary coordinate system established, essentially creating cuboidal grid spaces of 10,000 km cubed, each section then has it's own subgrid applied to it for finer navigation, in essence giving all objects in space two sets of coordinates. The second scale consists of one unit equalling 10.0 km, with each subgrid scale spanning 1000 units. Technically speaking the centre of grid (the Sun) is then located at (0,0,0/S0,0,0) PMC (Prometheus Mapping Coordinates), the S denoting the subgrid coordinates. Navigation Charting flight paths in space can be performed in three different manners, firstly by flying towards a known relative stationary point (such as a space station), secondly by plotting a course relative to the ship's position (by bearing), or finally by choosing a set of Mapping coordinates. A bearing consists of two numbers, both representing arcs 360° projected from the centre of the ship along the horizontal and vertical planes, with the ship's forward direction being zero. The first number designates the horizontal measurement, while the second designates the vertical one, often separated with the word "by". E.g.: A heading of "45 by 300" refers to a position to the forward right (45) and above (300) of the ship. In some cases, particularly in close manoeuvres, a ship's commander may set a specific pitch (orientation of the bow aft ends), roll (orientation of the dorsal and ventral ends) and yaw (orientation of the port and starboard ends). These numbers are relative to the ship's current orientation (e.g.: "Pitch up 90" or "Roll starboard 30"), though the ship may also realign itself to the solar plane for navigational convenience. See also Category:Solar Era Technology Category:Earth System Peacekeeping Force